


Wild, Wild, West

by Gays_only_event



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora is in Love with Catra (She-Ra), Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Western, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Catra is in Love with Adora (She-Ra), Cowboy Adora, Cowboys & Cowgirls, Explicit Language, F/F, Human Catra (She-Ra), Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra)'s A+ Parenting, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:40:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28884039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gays_only_event/pseuds/Gays_only_event
Summary: The Horde is a notorious gang in the time of cowboys and cowgirls. Adora figures out their gang isn't all she thought it was before they went on their first raid. Now she has to decide, will she stay for Catra's sake or leave and find a better life that doesn't involve stealing and killing others for a living? She's gotta figure it out before the Horde decides for her. Join Adora, Catra, and rest of the best friend squad and princess' as they all figure out what it takes to live in the Wild, Wild, West in a serious but funny, cute but some sex scenes, and many other crazy things that happen to the She-Ra characters in this Western AU!
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Hordak/Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 26





	1. The Raid

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Bear with the grammar on some things, I'm trying to make them sound more southern by using bad grammar and how they'd speak back then. It takes a little bit to pick up with the romance and bringing in the other characters but we'll get there soon! Thank you for reading and I'll try to update as much as I can through the week or weeks! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

“Rise and shine, ladies and gents! We’re here for your loot and women! Come on out and we might think bout not killing the lot of ya!” Gunshots ring out across the town. The sun is just rising over the sky line, enough for the outlaws to see the town they’re in.

“Come on, Adora, you’re gonna miss the action!” Catra says as she kicks her horse in the side to make him speed up.

“I ain’t too sure bout this, Catra,” I yell over the gunshots and the horses gallops as we rush behind the other horses. She pulls on her reigns to make her horse, Ash, slow down. She rides next to me and gives me a look with her eyebrow raised.

“What ya talkin bout, Adora? We’ve been dreamin bout this since we was little! They finally let us come with them on raids and you chickening out?” she asks. I look away from her to see where pullin up to the town. She’s right, I’ve dreamt what it would be like to come on raids since I was a youngin, we both have.

“I know, Catra. I just, not sure bout this. Look at the carnage we causin!” I tell her as we pull on the reigns to make the horses stop by the edge of town. She smirks as she jumps off Ash and sticks her hand out to help me off Swift Wind. I roll my eyes at her as I take her hand and hop off.

“Now, what was you sayin?” she says as she grabs her gun off her hip. I feel the cold metal on my hand as I reach for mine. I take it out the holster and feel the weight in my hand. It feels heavier than what it does at the camps. I look at the metal shine in the light, and see her smiling, shining brighter than finding gold in the water ways. I put my gun down and smile at her.

“Nothin, let’s go get some loot!” I say and she grins back at me with the fierceness of a big cat getting ready to pounce on it’s prey.  
I run next to her as she shoots out in the air like the rest of our gang, the Horde, does to the townspeople. Everyone is running around like chickens bein chased by dogs on a farm. I follow next to Catra and try to focus on getting us loot.

“Adora, you head into that door over there, I’ll look in the house next to ya,” she says and ducks into the house to our right while I look towards the door right in front of me. She’s already gone before I can agree to her plan. I shake my head and kick the door open. I look around and see the living room has random treasures sitting out. I grab some that I can fit in my pocket and look around the other rooms. I find a box in one of the rooms towards the back and open it. It’s full of gold and other trinkets that could be worth somethin. I reach into the box when I hear something creak in the room. I swiftly turn, gun in hand, as I whip my head around the room.

“Who’s there!?” I shout and look from side to side. I see a closet not too far from me and see the light from the sun reflect different inside. I slowly approach the door and whip it open. I see a mom, holding one child while using her body to block another. Another kid, the boy, is blocking all of them while holding back tears. The mom is crying, as are the other kids but silently.

“Leave us alone! We didn’t do nothing wrong to you!” the little boy shouts. I look at him and then see I still have my gun out, I put it back in the holster and keep my hands up to show them I don’t mean harm. The little boy sniffles as he still uses his body to keep me back. I kneel down towards them and smile at him.

“Hey, don’t worry, I ain’t gonna harm you, little man. Or your family here,” I say. He backs up as much as he can in the closet with his mom.

“Then why you stealing from us? And why is my daddy out there shooting at your gang?” he asks and sniffles again. A look of anger and sadness passes over his face, quick as a lighting flash. Then, back to determination to not let me get past him.  
“I’ll put back what I grabbed, I didn’t know someone still lived here. And my gang, well, we need money to live out there. I don’t agree with them,” I say shaking my head.

“Why you still with them then, miss? You seem like a good gal,” he says. I chuckle at him and look away. Why am I still with them? An image of Catra appears in my head, she’s the only reason. I’d do anything for that girl. Even break into a town and steal from someone’s house. But not when they in the closet, watchin me. I take the items I had in my pocket in set them next to the little boy. He looks at them then back at me.

“You’re a brave young man. Keep protecting your family until you hear all the yelling and horses leave, ya hear?” I tell him as I stand. He nods, causing some tears to fall down his face. I smile which quickly changes to fear as I hear the door to the house open. I quickly and quietly close the closet door and nod at the boy to stay quiet. I close the box I saw earlier and act like I’m looting.

“Gee, Adora. You sure are taking yer sweet time,” Catra says as she saunters into the room. I turn and laugh at her, sweat dripping down my face as I worry what will happen if she finds the family.

“Gotta be thorough, don’t I? Sides, there ain’t anything worth it in here, all junk. Let’s go to the next one’s,” I say as I walk towards the bedroom door.

“Wait, did ya check that box by the bed?” she says as she walks towards it to look. Shit, if she opens it she’ll see all the loot they got! I walk over to her and grab her shoulder to turn her around.  
“I told ya, nothin here,” I say, staring in her eyes. She looks surprised but it drops to confused.

“What, you don’t want me to double check ya work?” she says, eyebrow raised. I swallow hard as I try to think of a response to her question.

“Kinda hurts you don’t believe me,” I say, as I still have a solid grip on her shoulder, to make sure she can’t turn back. She may be able to run faster, and be sneakier, but I got the most strength out of everyone in our gang.

“Ch, alright. You can let me go now, princess,” she says and smirks. Her canines are about as sharp as they can be. Her smirk causes one of them to stick out over her lip. She really does look like a cat like that.

“Unless, you like holding me this close?” she says and gets closer to my face than before. I can feel the heat rising off her, not just from where my hand is on her shoulder. I can’t help but smell her as she’s this close. She smells like a field of grass after it rains, mixed with dirt, sweat and some metal, gunpowder too, but not overbearing. I unconsciously lean closer to her, when I remember the family in the closet. I can’t do this here! I chuckle back at her and let my hand slide off her.

“You wish, lone star,” I say and walk away. She laughs and follows behind me.

“You haven’t called me that in a fortnight!” she says and smacks my arm as we get closer to the exit.

“Yeah, well you ain’t called me princess for a long time too. What happened with that?” I say and laugh to myself. When we first met, she was all by herself in the wild. She said she had no name, so everyone called her lone star. I came up with the name Catra, because I thought of a cat when I saw her smile. She called me princess, because I’m the daughter of our second gang leader, Weaver. I pretty much got everything I wanted when I was a youngin, so she called me that from the books she’d find.

“Just comes out sometimes,” she says and smirks. We continue laughing as we walk towards the door. We don’t even make it outside before Weaver is on us by the door. Practically floating on the ground as she gets right in our faces.

“What the hell are you doing, Adora!?” she yells at me as I back up.

“Weaver, we was just lookin for loot, honest!” I say as she’s on me in a heartbeat. She grabs the front of my shirt and pulls me towards her. She always wears a bandana so no one sees her face, but she pulls it off when she yells at me. So I can hear her better, so she says. I think it’s cause she knows I don’t like lookin at her scars.

“It doesn’t take you an eternity to search one measly house, does it!? We need help out there, and we were missing your sure shot! And you,” she hisses at Catra who freezes next to me.

“Why were you here with her, huh? Trying to seduce my daughter again?” she says as she still has a solid grip on my shirt. To the point where I feel myself choking.

“No, I was checking on her! To make sure she was good! I ain’t heard from her after I looted the house next door! I swear!” she says as she looks between Weaver and me. I grab onto Weaver’s hand and she looks back at me, wild looking eyes stare back into mine.

“It’s my fault, Weaver. Honest,” I say and choke a bit as she hasn’t loosened the grip on me. She looks down and sees her grip, she loosens, but not much.

“Well, we need you out there now. So grab whatever shit you looted and let’s go. You’ll get your punishment later,” she says and practically throws me down. I take in breathes as she walks past Catra, still frozen but staring at me with worry.

“She can’t vouch for you everytime, stay away from my daughter, failure,” she says and walks away, pulling her bandana up as she goes. I see the tears in the corner of Catra’s eyes. She quickly wipes them with the palm of her hand.

“Catra.”

“Don’t. I’m fine. Lemme look at your throat, fore we head out,” she says and walks closer to me. She reaches for my neck, slow and gentle. She opens my top shirt button and looks closely at my neck. She touches lightly, feeling like butterflies dancin on my skin.

“Looks red, but feels fine. No swelling, might bruise, here,” she says and hands me her bandana from the back of her pocket. It has our gang symbol on it, she sewed it when she found out how. I smile as she ties it around my throat for me. I touch it and inhale it. Smells like her.

“Come on, fore we get yelled at again,” she says and sticks her hand out for me to grab. I take it and get the gun out of my holster and join her in the chaos outside.

“Took you long enough,” Weaver yells out over the gunshots, I look over and see she’s takin cover behind a wagon by the house. She sees us holding hands and glares daggers at Catra. She lets go, quick, and finds cover behind a tree. I take a breath and jump behind the wagon with Weaver. I look around and take a few shots. I hear someone fall. One down, many to go.

After what seemed like an endless amount of shooting, our gang came out victorious. The rest of the gang loots the houses they didn’t get before the looting while Catra and me are being talked to for not helping out earlier.

“Your first raid and you fuck it up, both of ya!” Weaver says and shakes her head. I try to say it was just my fault when I hear screaming. No, not them. I follow the screams and see the house I was in.

“Lookie what we got here!” one our gang members say, as he tosses the family on the ground. My heart stops as I see the little boy fall next to his mom and siblings. He goes over to them and stands between them and one of our members, Cobalt. Cobalt laughs as he sees the boy attempting to protect his family. I run past Weaver as she yells at me, I jump in between the kid and Cobalt.

“Hey, come on man, they just some kids and a woman. Leave em alone,” I say, glaring at him. He’s got some height on me, I’m bout 5’7, while he’s closer to 6”. He glares back down at me.

“Do you want em so bad, Adora? We all know you love the ladies,” he says and laughs. Everyone is lookin now.

“I don’t want em. I want you to leave em alone,” I say and stare at him. He steps closer but I stand my ground and look back up at him.

“Why you want me to leave em alone so bad? This what we do on raids, newbie. You need to learn,” he says as he closes his hand into a fist. I realize what’s about to happen when I hear a gunshot behind me. We all look and see Weaver shot into the air. She puts the gun down and walks to me and Cobalt. Boots clickling with the stirrups, causing dust to follow behind her like a cloud.

“Cobalt, you weren’t about to hit my daughter, were you?” she states and walks right up to him. He looks between me and her.

“No, Miss Weaver, I was just gonna, uh, lightly tap her?” he says, not sure what to do now. She smacks him with the butt of her gun and he falls to the ground, holding his face. Blood drips on the ground between his fingers.

“Don’t lie to me, Cobalt,” she says and steps on his other hand on the ground. He hisses as she uses the pointy bit of the boot.

“Okay,okay! I was, I’m sorry Miss Weaver! I won’t do that again!” he says as she continues to step on him. He might look tough, but Cobalt is sort of a baby. No one ever messes with him because he’s big, but that don’t mean nothin to Weaver.

“That’s what I thought. As for you, Adora,” she says and turns to me as she steps off his hand. I gulp and look at the ground.

“Why do you care for this family so much?”

“They seem innocent, Weaver. We don’t need to bring them into this,” I say and still look at the ground. She grabs my face with her hand to make me look up.

“They got brought into it the moment we came to town. Do you really want to vouch for these random civilians over your own gang? Or are you going to let the people enjoy themselves?” she says as she continues to hold my face. I can’t look at them because I’m stuck in front. I hear the boy sniffle and come closer.

“Leave the nice lady alone! She just wants to help our family!” he says. Weaver glares down by my leg and she kicks the boy away from me.

“No!” I shout and rip out of her hand to make sure he’s okay. I bend down and look over his body. The tears are falling now, cause he’s in pain. I wipe them away and see there’s just dirt, no wound visible. I set him down and turn to face Weaver. I stand up and glare at her.

“How dare you, he’s just a kid!” I yell at her. She shakes her head at me.

“Oh, Adora. You must understand I’m doing this for your own good. You need to learn the hard way. Cobalt, hold Adora back while you show these civilians where the rest of them go. The kids go over there and the woman, goes to Hordak,” she says as she watches the determination leave my face.

“No! Weaver you can’t do this! They don’t deserve it! Hit me instead! Don’t send her to Hordak!” I yell, knowing what our boss will do to a young pretty gal such as this girl. Cobalt grabs me and holds me still as I shake against him. A few other members grab the kids and separate them while Octavia, a big gal that is one of Hordak’s right hand gal, picks up the mom as she screams for her kids.

“Stop it! I’ll take their punishment! Don’t do this! They’re innocent!” I scream as I feel tears in my eyes. Weaver turns to me and smiles under her bandana. She comes closer and punches me in the stomach. I feel the air leave and gasp. She picks my head up and forces me to watch as I gasp. I hear Catra yelling somewhere in the distance, but can’t tell where.

“Oh don’t worry, you’ll get punished for all of this, my sincere daughter. You gotta learn how the West works. Starting by watching this family you vouched for be torn apart,” she says, I can hear the grin under her bandana. I scream no as loud as I can after losing all my air. She punches me in the gut again and makes me gasp. I shake against Cobalt as I watch them drag the innocent family that I thought I had helped earlier. The little boy is crying and asking for help, the mom is punching Octavia’s back. And I’m standing here, helplessly screaming like them.  
The last thing I remember is screaming and saying no when I feel a heavy object slap into my jaw. Feeling nothing after my body goes numb and my eyes close. Suddenly feeling weightless instead of feeling all the weight of this world on me. It’s almost a nice feeling, almost. Before I fully fade, I still hear screams. Almost like our shootout never ended in the first place.


	2. The Horde

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following the aftermath of their first raid, Adora and Catra have to deal with Weaver and Hordak's punishments for helping the family Adora found in the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back and continuing the life of Adora and Catra inside the notorious gang the Horde! This time we'll see more of the other people in the Horde, including Hordak. Adora sure doesn't have it easy just yet, but hopefully she'll get there soon. Enjoy and thank you for reading!

“Adora, Adora?!” I hear someone shouting at me. I open my eyes and it’s blurry. There’s a fire cracking near by. It’s dark, and cold, but there’s something near me that’s warm? I look up and see it’s Catra, slowly coming into view.

“Oh, hey Catra. Where are we?” I say and look around, confused. I blink a few times and feel like my jaw is on fire. I look down and see I’m tied to a tree. Everything quickly comes back to me. The raid, the family in the closet, me trying to protect them, Weaver. Weaver, where is she? She’s gonna pay for all this, mother or not! I struggle against the ties.

“Catra, untie me, quick. I need to find Weaver,” I say as I shake against the ties. Catra shakes her head at me.

“She’d kill me if she found out I was even here. I ain’t supposed to come near you alone anymore. Says I’m trying to seduce you away from her,” she says and looks away. The fire is far but close enough I can see a light blush on her face. 

“Why you over here then? And why am I tied up?” I ask, still not sure why.

“Part of your punishment. Weaver is pissed with you, so’s Hordak. He did enjoy the woman that they gave him though. Said she was a good fuck,” she says and looks back at me. I glare at the ground and grit my teeth. How dare that asshole, I’ll kill him too. 

“Catra, untie me,” I say and look up at her. Dead set on killing Hordak and Weaver for what they did. 

“I’m sorry, Adora. I want to, I really do, but I can’t. They’ll kill us before we even get the chance to get them,” she says and messes with tassels on her jacket.

“Please, Catra? Just give me a knife, I won’t say you did it. I’ll take whatever they throw,” I say and smile.

“That’s the problem, Adora! You, you always take my punishment’s for me! Hell, you even offered to take the punishment for that random family! Did you know them?” she asks. I look down.

“I, I saw em in the closet. Before you came in to see me. They was scared as shit of me. I just couldn’t steal their shit and hurt them, not when I could see them. Our practice runs were a hell of a lot different than that raid there. I ain’t cut out for this, Catra,” I say and look at the mountains. 

“The hell you ain’t! It was just that one family, that’s all, one fuck up! You was born for this, Adora! Your mom is the second gang leader! How could ya not be?” she says, not yelling but not whispering. I sigh.

“I don’t know Catra. I think, I think in this situation we’re the bad guys,” I say as I look in her eyes. She glares as the fire crackles behind her. Bathing her in a shadow while I can still her face against the glow. 

“There ain’t no good or bad, Adora. It’s the Wild West, you gotta live how you gotta live. That’s how it’s always been,” she says as she looks away from me.

“No, there’s no way we were meant to do this to people, innocent folk, that ain’t no way to live!” I yell, not meaning to. She covers my mouth using her hand and shushes me. She looks around to make sure no one comes over and slowly takes her hand away.

“Do you want us to get killed before you figure out how to live?” she says and leans back a bit. She’s still sitting on my lap and we both realize it after a few seconds. She backs up and faces me but isn’t on my lap. I miss the warmth already. The desert gets cold at night, and we’re a ways away from the fire. 

“Look, Adora, I get it. The shit we do as the Horde, is kind of fucked up, but, how else are we supposed to live? We can’t just leave, they’d kill us if we tried. And, unlike you, I don’t got a death wish,” she says and shakes her head. I look back her and smile. She said it with an endearing smile, she knows I don’t got a death wish, but when I get my mind made up, it’s made. 

“Then come with me. Neither of us can die if we lookin out for one another,” I say. She looks at me, looks at the fire for a long second, she turns back and I can see that she’s torn. I’m the only family she’s got, sides the Horde. She’s only here because I found her and Weaver said we could keep her. 

“Let’s just sleep on it, okay? You need rest and well, dammit I need some too. Whole time you was out like a light I was watchin you. Makin sure Weaver didn’t do nothin else sides tie you up. I’ll get us blankets,” she says and walks towards the fire. She comes back, blankets in hand. She lays it on me, best as she can with how I’m tied. She then sits next to me against the tree and leans on my shoulder.

“You can sit by the fire, ya know?” I tell her. She hates the cold, always has. 

“Nah, you’re warm enough for me,” she says and gets closer. I chuckle and look up at the stars.

“Night, Adora,” she says.

“Night, Catra,” I say. I look up at the stars and wonder what it would be like to live somewhere that I could be with Catra and not be scared of being caught or being forced to go on raids and torture people to get money. I sigh and lean my head against hers. I can feel her breathing shift to signal she’s asleep. I follow close behind, as exhaustion from the day hits me. 

I wake up and see Catra’s no longer next to me. She must have woke up before the rest of the gang so Weaver wouldn’t catch her. Speak of the devil, she comes walking this way. She stretches as she comes closer.

“Ah, that was a good rest. How bout you, daughter of mine?” she says and laughs. Knowing how bad I slept because of being tied to a tree. 

“What do you want, Weaver? Isn’t this my punishment? Being away from people?” I say, she laughs.

“No, the punishment was mostly to keep you away from Catra. Seeing as how she was awfully worried for you, yesterday,” she says and chuckles. She kneels down to be closer to me than before. I glare at her and look away from her. She touches my jaw and it immediately lights up.

“Ah, fuck!” I hiss. She laughs.

“Looks like your mom still got it, huh?” she says to herself. I shake my head away from her hand and glare.

“Like I said, what you want, Weaver? I ain’t in the mood,” I say. 

“Well, who’s fault is that? Anyways, I got someone who wants to talk to you,” she says and turns as I hear boots step closer to us. Heavy footsteps, boots stompin the ground like they own it. I follow Weaver’s line of sight and see Hordak stepping closer. Not him, anyone but him. I do my best to back up, but my back is already pressed against the tree that I can feel the bark press against my skin under my shirt. He stops right in front of us and smirks down at me.

“Thank you for waking her up for me, Weaver,” he says. She stands up to be next to him and look down at me. He talks different than the rest of us, more proper. Yet, he’s the worst savage out of the whole gang.

“My pleasure, Hordak,” she says. He kneels down to be closer to me. I can smell the alcohol on his breathe, and the cigars. 

“Oh, Adora. I have high hopes for you, you know? But with a stunt like yesterday, not too sure how our gang will take it if I make you be closer to my side,” he says and clicks his tongue at me.

“Then don’t, I’m good being down here,” I say and stare at him. He smiles, not a smirk, a sickening smile. It spreads across his face slowly and gets bigger second by second. 

“I don’t think you’ll be saying that if I said something would happen to Catra, now would you?” he says. My eyes get bigger and my breathe catches in my chest. I get as close as I can to him now, he doesn’t waver.

“Don’t you dare even think bout touching her. You bastard,” I say and spit on him. He wipes the spit off his face, and growls. It’s animalistic, from deep within his chest and throat. It turns from a growl to a laugh. A loud, slow laugh. He opens his eyes after his laughing fest. He punches me square in the face, right on the nose. I hear it crack before I feel it. Blood gushes out right after. I can taste it on my mouth, iron. I curse and shake my head as the pain starts to kick in. He grabs my ponytail and makes me look him the face as the blood is dripping down on my shirt and lap. 

“You listen here, girl. Never, I mean never, spit in my face again, you hear?! Otherwise, it won’t just be your face gushing blood, it’ll be that pretty girl of yours you favor,” he says and whispers it because he’s so close to me. I gasp air out of my mouth and try not to swallow blood. He slams my head against the tree and stands up.

“Now, you gotta choice to make, Adora. Either agree to be my second hand or, that pretty girl of yours will learn what happens to the girls from the towns, got it?” he says and smiles down at me. I take a few breathes and spit out the blood from my mouth. If I try to leave now, I’ll get Catra fucked up by him, or worse, killed. But if I agree, I’m stuck for good. 

“Sounds like you want me to show your girl what I’m known best for,” he says and adjusts his pants down by his groin. I try not to throw up after he did that. He goes to walk away when I yell.

“Wait! I’ll, I’ll do it. Leave her out of it,” I say and look down. My nose is still on fire and gushing blood too. If I don’t get it looked at soon, I might not get it fixed ever. But, that ain’t my biggest concern right now. It’s Catra, wherever she is. 

“That’s my girl,” he says and bends down. He looks me over and smiles to himself. 

“Ya know, if you didn’t have that blood on your face, you got yourself a nice face, not to mention nice body,” he says looking me up and down. I glare and don’t turn away, I ain’t his bitch. 

“Hordak, that is still my daughter you’re talking about,” Weaver says. Acting like she’s the best mom ever now, huh? She must be jealous of the attention he’s giving me, that I don’t want. He chuckles and closes his eyes.

“Right, Weaver. She is. Not to mention she a little on the young side. You on the other hand,” he says and grabs her waist. He takes her closer and kisses her mouth. I turn my head and look away, trying to keep yesterday’s food down. They stop and she bends down to untie me. I stand up and stretch and rub at where I was tied.

“Get yourself cleaned up, girl. After you do, we’re gonna make the announcement,” he says and doesn’t even look at the damage he done to my face.

“Thought I had to prove I deserve it?” I ask him, rubbing my wrists. He laughs and turns back to me, standing I can see he’s just as tall as when I was sitting down looking at him. 

“Oh, you’ll see what I got planned for your little, ceremony,” he says the last part like that ain’t what it is. Fuck. He walks away, Weaver goes to follow but not before telling me.

“Don’t mess this up, Adora. I will be watching,” she says and walks away. Leaving me alone with a busted nose and blood on my face, starting to dry. 

I walk closer to the camp and look for my canister. I find it and see it still got water. I pour some on my hands and wipe the blood off my face. 

“Adora! They let you go! I was so worried when Weaver said to-” Catra says and stops when I turn to face her. I let out a small smile.

“That bad, huh?” She runs over to me and touches all over and then touches my nose, which I hiss.

“What the fuck did he do to you?!” she yells. She turns to go find him but I hold her back.

“Hey, simmer down. It was my fault, I spit on him and well he did this,” I say, showing my face. She still is breathing hard but ain’t trying to leave anymore. 

“It’s broken, he broke your pretty nose for spitting on him. What the hell kinda man does that shit?” she says through gritted teeth. I can see tears on her eyes again. Forming but no falling. I reach out and wipe one of her eyes. She looks into mine and I smile at her.

“I’m alright, really. I will need you to try to put it back in place though. Since it is broke,” I say and force a smile. It’s gonna hurt like hell. 

“Do you got something to bite on?” she says. I nod and take the bandana off my neck and put in between my teeth. She sighs and shakes her head. Her hands come up by my face, shaking.

“Ready? This is gonna hurt like a bitch,” she says. I nod, because it’s her doing it. No one else. She takes a few deep breathes then does it. Quick as she can. I feel and hear the bone pop back. I also feel more blood come out cause of it. I scream against the towel, that hurt just bout as bad as the break.

“I’m sorry! I tried to make it quick! You okay, Adora!?” she says and holds the sides of my face. I nod and take the bandana out. 

“Yeah, yeah, I think,” I say as she takes the bandana and holds it against my nose. 

“Shit, lots of blood,” she says and does her best to stay calm. 

“It’s okay, luckily the bandana is red too,” I say and laugh at my own joke. She shakes her head but gives a small smile.

“You’re such an idiot,” I can hear the smile just as much as I can see it. I smile back. I know I’m an idiot. I want to say I’m you’re idiot when I hear someone come near us.

“You need help, Catra?” Lonnie, one of the girls our age, says and comes to look at my nose. 

“I got it, Lonnie. Thanks,” she says as she moves the bandana to see if it’s done bleeding. Satisfied, she takes it away and goes towards her satchel on Ash. She grabs another rag from it and comes back over. I give her my canister and she puts some water on it, to wipe all the dried blood off. 

“Sheesh, who did that to you, Adora? Thought you’d never lost a fight?” Lonnie says, staring at my face.

“Not much of a fight when I’m tied to a tree,” I say as Catra cleans my face. 

“Damn, it was the boss? He’s one mean bastard when he’s drunk. Matter fact, he’s just a mean bastard,” she says and shakes her head. 

“Yeah, well, can’t change who’s in charge,” I say, thinking of our talk. I look at Catra as she wipes up the blood and looks me up and down.

“You’ll have to change that shirt,” she says pointing to the blood stains all over. I nod. Good think Weaver steals me clothes from all over. I go to Swift Wind and pet him. I reach in a satchel and grab a shirt. I start to unbutton and undress by him when I can hear someone sputtering. I turn to see Catra trying not to stare. Shit, I forgot where I was for a second! I go on the other side of Switfy and use him to help me quickly change. I come back around after fixing myself and shrug.

“This look fine?” I ask her. It’s a little tighter than my last one, and the buttons don’t go all the way up so my collar bone shows. She’s staring and her face get’s more red by the second.

“Yeah, looks dandy, I’d say,” she says and looks away. I hear Lonnie whistle at me near by.

“Damn, Adora! Why don’t ya wear that one more? It shows off that great body you got!” Lonnie says and punches my arm. I punch her back. 

“Could say the same to you, dumb ass,” she laughs and shrugs.

“I don’t got my mom stealing rich people clothes for me,” she says and sticks her tongue out. I roll my eyes, like I want her to be doin that? 

“Adora, you almost ready?” I hear Weaver ask me. Shit, I almost forgot. 

“Yeah, here I come,” I say ready to do this announcement.

“Wait, what’s goin on?” Catra asks, Lonnie nods, just as confused.

“Long story, come on, we’ll all see,” I say leading them to the center where everyone is gathered. I can’t see inside the circle but when I get closer I hear Hordak.

“Ah, just in time. Adora, come on in!” he calls to me and the crowd of our gang splits open. I get one last look at Catra before heading towards Hordak. When I get closer to him he has a huge grin. Similar to the eerie one from earlier.

“So, to be my second hand, well third hand really, you must prove to the group you deserve it after your actions yesterday, right, Adora?” he says, still smiling. I stop walking when I get a decent distance from him.

“Yes, that is what I agreed to,” I state. He chuckles and starts to walk around me in a circle.

“Excellent. Now, before others would just fight for me or show me their skill. I already know your skill, you see. We all do in fact. Strongest member of our gang, one of the best shots, able to make quick decisions, the list goes on. However, I have a question on how loyal you are to the gang. So, to help figure out or dilemma, I have decided to give you a chance to show just how loyal you are,” he hands me a gun before getting behind me and putting both of his hands on my shoulders. I shiver but don’t move. I almost ask bout the gun when he whistles and the crowd splits open again. They shove in the mother from yesterday. She’s beaten, a black eye, dried blood near her mouth and eyebrow, not mention she’s got her hands and feet tied. I stare, wide eyed at her. I look back at Hordak, who smiles.

“I want you to prove your loyalty by killing this woman for me,” he says, smiling as he holds me still on my shoulders. Then, he leans down in my ear, only letting me hear.

“If you don’t kill this girl, your girl will end up far worse than her. I can see her in the crowd right now, god the things I want to do to her. Can you imagine it? And then after, I’d beat the shit out of her. Make your choice, Adora. A half dead stranger, or your girl?”


	3. The Rebels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora has to make a difficult choice this time for her or for Catra. What will she choose? The woman that she saved or the love of her life that she hasn't even confessed to yet?

I stare at the gun as the words repeat in my head, over and over. The woman or Catra? The woman or Catra? He expects me to choose? I can’t kill this woman! But, I can’t have Hordak kill Catra either. Everyone around me is shoutin at me to shoot her. Like I’m not killing a woman in cold blood! She did nothing wrong, to anyone! I look between the gun and the woman, then my eyes drift to Catra. She looks so scared, confused, and another feeling I can’t quite make out. 

“Well, Adora. What is it gonna be?” Hordak says behind me, still holding my shoulders. 

“I, I’m not sure if I can,” I say, shaking. I close my eyes and try to catch my breath.

“Adora, if you don’t want to kill her, I can always replace her with Catra as the whole gang watches. I’ll make a day out of it,” he says and laughs. The anger comes back and I quickly turn with the gun pointed at Hordak’s head.

“Don’t you fucking touch her,” I growl as he smiles at me.

“If you couldn’t kill this random girl, you can’t kill me, Adora,” he says and continues to smile. I stick the gun further in his chin and he pulls his face back, but doesn’t attempt to move. I hear everyone getting their guns out to point at me. I hear Catra yelling my name, and Weaver yells both mine and Hordak’s name. It’s all so foggy, I can’t really make anything out, I’m just focused on Hordak’s face, and how badly I want to put a bullet through it.

“Come on, Adora, you don’t have the guts,” he hasn’t wavered, neither have I. I hear shots, but not at me. I turn to look and see horses running up on our camp and people are shooting and shouting at us. 

“Shit, must be that damn Rebellion gang that’s been making rounds! Come on, we’ll finish this after we escape. Everybody run, we’ll meet up at the rendezvous near here!” he yells and turns to get on his horse. Everyone is almost trampling me as I look around for Catra.

“Catra! Catra where are you?!” I yell as the gun shots continue and people are yelling. I look down and see the woman from the town. I kneel down and look for anything to cut the rope with. One of our gang members got shot and is laying not far. I crawl over and take the knife from his side and cut the woman’s ropes off. The tears in her eyes continue to fall as she watches me cut. 

“There, you’re free. Go, run from here!” I tell her as she nods and thanks me. She gets up and runs towards the opposite gang. I don’t know if they can be trusted, but they, hopefully, won’t kill a civilian.

“Catra! Are you still here? Where are you!?” I shout and run towards Swift Wind. He’s kicking up dust and strutting around in the chaos. I shush him and manage to quiet him down. I go to reach up to grab one of his reigns when I feel a familiar cold metal against the back of my neck.

“Don’t move, Horde scum,” I hear a female voice say. I put my hands up and stay still. 

“Move over here, and don’t even think about reaching for any weapons,” she says. I turn to face her and she’s short. Shorter than Catra even. She’s glarin at me, but her face is sweet lookin, childish like. She’s got pink and purple hair, not sure how that works, and she’s got a thicker figure but pulls it off with the clothes she’s wearin. 

“What are you starin at?” she says as she feels me up and down for weapons. She tosses my pistol and my knife I picked up. After she stops feeling me up and stands back up all the way she still glares at me. 

“You never answered what you’re stain at,” she says and holds the gun closer to me. 

“Just seein who the person pointin a gun at me was, nothin else. Didn’t know other gangs recruited so young,” I say. Her face gets red and she clicks her tongue at me.

“I am just as old as you! I’m an adult, okay! A young adult but an adult!” she shouts, her voice has a distinct shrill. I recoil a bit, noticing how loud she is compared to our surroundings. Wait, the shooting stopped? I look around and realize they stopped shooting. 

“The shooting stopped,” I say to myself but she hears me.

“Yeah, it stopped not that long ago. Great, that means I can bring you where we keep the rest of the prisoners,” she gestures me towards the center of our, old, camp with the gun. I look around as she keeps me walking forward. I get to the center and see who ambushed us.

“Glimmer! Thank goodness, I heard you yellin and thought somethin happened to ya!” a man says running up to my captor. She rolls her eyes.

“I’m fine, Bow. Just got, irritated with the Horde scum,” she says and glares at me when she says that. I glare back at her as someone else hits me with the butt of their gun to push me towards the circle of the gang members they caught. I look around for Catra either in the group or on the ground. Not on the ground, I let out a sigh of relief. I don’t see her in the group, there’s only a few other small fry, sides me, here. 

I look back at the pink haired girl, Glimmer. And this Bow fellow next to her. He’s a black boy, dark skin with a faded hair cut. He appears to be wearing a shirt that don’t fit him right. It’s cut off under his chest. Not to mention, he’s carryin a bow and arrow on his back. He sees me staring and whispers to the gal. She turns to me and stomps over, trudgin up dust in her wake. I turn back around and pretend that I wasn’t just staring at her guy. 

“Do you got a staring problem, Horde scum?” she says and waves her gun around. 

“I got a you problem. Who the hell are you people and why’d you ambush our camp for no god damn reason?” 

“No reason? Do you know what the Horde does to people? Course you do, you’re one of em! You’re all terrible and deserve to be put to justice!” she says.

“I ain’t do nothing bad. And who are you, the law? You’re just another gang getting in a gang fight. Let me go, I don’t want no trouble,” I say. I’m not angry, just tired and wanting to find Catra. I hope that girl got away good. 

You’re all terrible, and I ain’t the law but my mother is and she’s gonna make you pay for your crimes!” she shouts, real close to my face. Before I can make a rebuttal, I hear another set of horses come riding up to the camp. Catra? Did she come back?! I look past the girl and see a horse that’s nicer than Hordak’s. Clean, well groomed one, with a big ole fancy saddle. The lady that’s riding the horse gets off, swift and easy. When she stands, she’s tall. Taller than Horak, not to mention she’s got hair just as pink as the girl that likes to waves guns around. She’s tall, slim, and looks intimidating. She walks towards our circle and everyone is quiet. The mumbles from our gang go quiet too. All entranced by this woman just walkin towards us. 

“Glimmah, I see you went off on your own again,” she says as she stops right by me and the short girl. 

“I saw an opening and I took it, mom! You would have too,” she says as the woman towers over her. She talks funny. The woman sees me staring and tilts her head.

“Well you seem awfully young to be the leader of the gang. I’m guessing the leader, Hordak, got away?” the tall woman says.

“I ain’t no leader. I never could be, too hard to make big decisions,” I say looking away. If I had just chose to shoot or not shoot, I wouldn’t have lost Catra in the chaos. 

“I see. Well, we need to see if there are any stragglers before figuring out their judgment,” this woman says.

“You talk funny,” I tell her after she says that. The short girl smacks the back of my head with her hand and I hiss.

“What the hell was that for?!”

“Apologize! My mom doesn’t talk funny!” she says and glares.

“But she does! I ain’t never heard no one talk like that!” I say, I haven’t it. Sounds real proper and has a weird tone.

“It’s alright, Glimmah. No need to hit the prisoner. We’re different than them. I am not from here,” she says and steps closer to me. I try not to back up and look back up at her as I sit on the log they had me sit down on.

“What is your name?” she asks.

“Adora, and who might you be?”

“My name is Angella, and I am Glimmah’s mother. Leader of the Rebellion gang. I studied law in my home country, England, and then I came here. So I am sort of a lawyer as well as a gang leader,” she says.

“What’s a lawyer?” I ask her. The short girl, Glimmer, groans.

“It’s similar to a sheriff, I know about the law,” she says to dumb it down.

“So, you’re gonna punish me for doing bad things with a gang when I ain’t ever do nothing bad sides being here?” I ask her. 

“Not necessarily punish. If you have committed crimes then I will see how to remedy them,” she states. 

“I haven’t done no crimes,” I say again.

“Quiet, Horde scum! Everyone in the Horde is evil! We all know it!” Glimmer says. I glare at her.

“No, I said I ain’t done nothing wrong! If anything, I’ve been wronged by them! I thought we wasn’t doing nothin bad at first. But I know now, we’re a fucked up gang and I just want to leave it,” I want Catra to come with me. I gotta find her. I breathe hard after yelling at these folk then turn away. 

“Is that, true?” the boy, Bow, says.

“Yes, I ain’t lying,” I say to him.

“Liar, the Horde is all the same! All they do is take, and take, and cause horrors in every town’s wake, all for their own gain. You’re no different,” she says pointing a finger at my face. I so badly wanna bite that finger from the way she’s acting. Before anything else happens I hear someone yelling.

“Wait, wait! She’s telling the truth! She ain’t done wrong!” the girl from the town yells as she runs towards our group. I look up and see her. The people from the other gang chase after her to finish fixing her. She gasps for air as she stops next to us.

“She, she saved me and my family best she could against these mad men! She even go beat by them for us! And she didn’t shoot me! She could have but didn’t!” she shouts and smiles at me. 

“See, I ain’t do nothin, like I said,” I tell them. 

“What does she mean, didn’t shoot her?” Angella says.

“Hordak wanted me to shoot her, else he’d do something bad to my, my closest friend,” I say looking down. Can’t very well call her my girl when she ain’t really my girl. I’d love her to be, but god dammit, she’d never get with a gal like me! Not mention I’m a girl and she’s a girl and well it just don’t work, specially not now that she’s gone. 

“You chose not to shoot her?” Glimmer asks me.

“What you got cotton in your ears, girl? Yeah, I was gonna shoot that bastard Hordak’s head off but you folks crashed our camp,”I remind her and she slightly glares at me after my remark.

“I see, and the raid yesterday that our gang found evidence of, you weren’t apart of it?” 

“No, well yes, but I didn’t do nothing wrong, honest,” I say.

“She saved us, like I said!” the woman says again near Bow.

“We believe you, we just don’t got, have, the whole story. Trying to fix my words, Ms. Angella,” Bow says to her. She gives him a soft smile.

“Thank you, Bow. Now, Adora, I would like to hear all that happened since yesterday, we will see what do with the rest of your gang when we find them,” Angella tells me. I sigh. I repeat everytihin that happened yesterday, including Hordak punching me and Weaver hitting me. I finish telling them all that happened and look away. 

“I told you, I ain’t bad,” I say as I wipe a tear that tries to fall down my face. I don’t think they noticed. They all look like they’re thinkin too much.

“Well, you certainly did nothing wrong. However, this Weaver and your leader Hordak as well as the others involved clearly need to be brought to justice,” Angella says. I nod in agreement.

“What about your closest friend?” Glimmer asks. I freeze, remembering that she went in the other house, not knowing what she did. 

“She, uh, she ain’t do nothin bad either. She ain’t stop them from hurtin the family, but she was scared,” I say. Hopin they believe me, she’s a good person. She ain’t bad.

“Did she do anything to anyone else?” Glimmer presses, remembering my part of the story when I said she went to another house.

“No, honest. Catra, she, she’s a good person. She wouldn’t hurt nobody,” I say, tryin to make myself believe it. She’s good, she’s wonderful. Breathtakin, gorgeous, funny, charmin, and those different eye colors? A blue and almost golden one, God, not to mention the freckles coverin her nose. I don’t realize how long I’m thinkin bout Catra till I realize the stares I’m gettin. My whole body feels like it’s on fire, I know my face red as our gang’s main color. 

“Seems like she means a lot to you,” Bow says, sympathetic. I nod, trying to cool off.

“She’s my whole world, only reason I’m still with this gang. But, I don’t know where she went,” I say, looking down at my boots. They still got some blood on em from earlier when my nose was drippin. 

“Maybe we can help you find her! We gotta find the rest of your gang anyhow too. Since they got away, again,” Bow says and rubs his head. Glimmer gives him a look then clears her throat.

“Right, we can help you find her. It’ll be your punishment, helping us find the rest of your gang to punish them. As for the rest of this little group here, what’ll it be for the lot you?” she asks, questioning the few gang members they caught. None speak up, so they get tied up and tossed in a carriage this gang has. They call it their transportable jail cell, name made up by Bow. He told me full of pride as they put the members in there. I wasn’t gonna ask, just thought of it as a carriage. 

“Ain’t you gonna tie me up? Thought you couldn’t trust me?” I ask Glimmer. She chuckles.

“Oh trust me, I want to. I’m still not sure about you, Adora. I think you’re not telling the full truth. But, my mother and Bow disagree. Can’t over step those two,” she says.

“What, they together or somethin?” I say, confused why the boy’s opinion matters, he’s young.

“No! My mother is married to a man her age, Bow is not my dad, thank you!” she screams in my ear, that shrill voice again. I squeeze my eyes shut and open them when she’s done.

“Damn, how the hell am I supposed to know? Why does it matter what he thinks then?” I say, rubbing my ear to make sure it ain’t bleeding.

“He, he’s important to me. So I listen to him, and my mother makes the final call,” she says and shrugs. When she mentions him she gets more color to her face, ah, it’s like that.

“I see. Don’t worry, short stack, I won’t tell him,” I say and pat her back. I can hear the steam coming from her head, like a pot being done on a fire.

“What did you say?!” she screams.

“Which part? Me not tellin, or short stack?” I say, finally smiling a bit at her outburst.

“Both! How dare you, Horde Scum!” she shouts like she’ll do somethin.

“What are you gonna do about it?” I say, crossing my arms and closin my eyes, proud of myself. I hear her scream and then feel my weight bein dragged down and more weight on the front of me. She tackled me!? I open my eyes and try to stop her from fightin me. She’s pulling my ponytail and scratching my arms. I get my arms uncrossed and grab her wrists and flip us over to where I’m on top and holding back this screaming ball of rage.

“Glimmer! What’s going on!?” Bow says as he trots over to us. 

“Bow! Get her off me!” she screams. I let go of her and get off.

“She started it! She tackled me,” I say and shake the hair out of my face as he helps her up.

“Is this true, Glim?” he says as he dusts her off.

“Well, she was making fun of how short I am! You know I hate that!” she tells him, fake tears comin to her eyes. I roll my eyes.

“Please, it weren’t that bad,” I say, crossin my arms again.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Bow says to me.

“What?”

“You said weren’t, it’s wasn’t that bad. Proper talk,” he says and smiles.

“I don’t need to talk proper,” I scoff. Trying to make me talk proper, tch.

“We can work on it together! I’m bad at it too, but Angella’s been helpin me!” he says, smilin big and wide. I ain’t gonna smile back, they’re my enemies, hell, the little one hates me! He still smiles at me, dammit, it’s catchin! I smile back at him, small. 

“I’ll think bout it,” I tell him. He shouts like he won somethin. 

“Woohoo! I’ll let Angella know! Now, Glimmer, what do we say to people we tackle?” he says, bein serious again.

“Do I have to apologize to a prisoner, Bow?” she whines. 

“Yes, Glim. You gotta, it’s only fair,” he says and finishes dustin her off.

“Ugh, fine. I’m sorry,” she says, not lookin me in the eye.

“What was that? Couldn’t hear ya,” I say, tilting my ear to her.

“You little, ugh, I’m sorry for tackling you and trying to hit you, Adora. There, happy?” she says to me and Bow.

“Yes, thanks,” I say and smirk, proudly.

“Thank you, Glimmer. Now, let’s try to get along. We’ll have to be with one another for the next few days while we find the Horde,” he reminds her.

“Fine, no promises that I won’t get mad at her again. She’s just so, full of herself,” she says after looking me up and down. Not sure what’s she’s lookin at. I’m covered in dust, dried blood stains, my hairs a mess, my shirts untucked. 

“She’s just not used to company that doesn’t hit her, Glim. Member, we’re different from them,” he says, pattin her arm as he walks back to Angella. She scoffs and looks back at me.

“What?” I say, she keeps starin. She looks away, red on cheeks again.

“Nothing, come on, let’s go see what my mother’s got to say,” she says and follows after Bow. I follow her after she’s a bit ahead. Rather avoid getting tackled again. 

“I heard the commotion Glimmah, care to explain?” she says, sternly.

“I tackled Adora because she made fun of my height,” she says, not lookin at her. 

“I see. Did you apologize?” 

“Yes, Bow made me.”

“Good, now let’s discuss what we are going to do track down the Horde,” Angella says turning to look at a map that they placed on a level rock. That reminds me of what Hordak said.

“Hordak said somehin bout meeting at a rendezvous point near here,” I tell them. They all turn to look at me.

“Do you know where that is?” Angella asks me. I look at the map and try to remember the points we’d go over while at camp. I recognize the spot they have us at now. There’s two places it could be. Either the stretch of road to west or the stretch to the east. Since we just came from the south, where the last town was. 

“It’s either the stretch of road east or west of us. Not sure which, sorry,” I say and step back again. 

“That’s a good start. We can have our hunting dogs show us the way. Do you have an item from any of the other member’s Adora?” Angella asks me. I think bout it, almost say no, then remember, the bandana from Catra! I run over to my satchel on Swifty and pet him as I do. I run back to the group and show them.

“This is Catra’s, it’s got some of my blood on it, but she wore it most,” I tell them. Angella nods and gives it to one of the dog’s that another Rebel member is holding. The dog sniffs deeply, sniffs me and growls. I back up, ready to block if it attacks. 

“Woah, woah, it’s okay boy! She’s, a friend!” Bow tells the dog to calm it. It stops growling and sniffs the other side of the bandana. Seems to have gotten her sent. The member let’s it go and it follows Catra’s tracks. It barks when it gets further to the edge of the camp and sits for us.

“It’s got the scent! Woohoo! Thank you, Adora!” Bow says, smacking my back. I laugh a bit and shrug.

“No problem. Just hope this dog helps us find Catra, and the rest of the gang, course,” I say. 

“Is everyone ready? Adora? Do you have a horse?” Angella says, getting on her shining horse. 

“Yeah, I do! Swift Wind!” I yell and whistle for him. He trots over and whinnies at us.

“My, what a fine horse. Nice white coat for being in the dessert,” Angella says. I hop on him and pat his head.

“Yeah, I bathe him every chance I get. He thinks he’s some fancy horse from the rich, I really found him as a pony when I was young on the road,” I say petting his mane. 

“He’s very pretty,” Glimmer says, to add on.

“Thanks, he says thanks too,” I tell them. They laugh and I smile a bit. 

“Come on, Copper is waiting for us,” Bow says as he leads his horse towards the dog. They all follow suit as I stare off into the desert. Can’t help but think of if Catra is okay. 

“Adora, you comin?” Glimmer says as she looks behind her to see me.

“Yeah, yeah, comin,” I say as I use make Swifty giddyup to catch up to the rest of them. Bow smiles at me as we follow the dog, Copper.

“It’ll be okay, we’ll find her and if she’s good like you say, she’ll come with us and you two can go on about your lives,” Bow says, tryin to cheer me up.

“I hope so. She’s hard to read, that one. Who knows if she’ll even leave em,” I say, shakin my head.

“Hey, you believe in her, don’t you?” I nod to him.

“Then she’s bound to listen to you and come with us. You’ll see, it’ll all work out,” he says with a smile. I give a small smile back as continue to follow Copper. He looks away and I drop my smile. Please, Catra, be okay till we get there. I can’t lose you. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adora isn't great at making decisions on the fly, as we can see. But, we do know that she loves Catra and will do anything to help her, even if that means teaming up with this "Rebels" gang. Stay tuned next time for another action packed tale from the west with Adora and the, maybe if she lets them, Best Friend Squad!  
> Ps: I know I took a while to get this chapter up, I'm very sorry but I have been busy the past few weeks with work and I just had my bday a few days ago so I didn't have much time to update. I will work on updating again pretty soon! Thank you for reading!


	4. The Quest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora and the Rebels make a journey to find Catra and the rest of the Horde after they ran away. On the way they learn more about each other and get closer to being friends.

We continue following Copper for what feels like ages, but it’s only been less than a day. Bow keeps talkin to me and tellin me all about the place the Rebels call home, Brightmoon.

“I know you’ll be on your way when we find the rest of your gang but I really hope you get to see Brightmoon, Adora! It’s a wonderful little town and everyone is happy there! Thanks to it being protected by the Rebellion,” he says the last part and smiles at himself and Glimmer. She rolls her eyes but she’s got a small smile on her face with it. 

“What about you, Adora? Where’s your home at?” Glimmer asks me. I look off in the distance and not at them. I don’t have a real home. We travel from place to place. Goin on raids to get supplies and constantly on the run from the law.

“We, uh, don’t got a real home. The Horde’s my home, all I got. Weaver found me as a baby and well, she ain’t let me go yet,” I tell them. Adjusting the reigns in my hands. I can feel Bow starin at me. I look over and see how sad his brown eyes are.

“You don’t have a home? What do you guys do when you want to settle down and not worry about other gangs or wild animals?” he says. I shrug.

“We just go from camp to camp, go on raids to get supplies, and then set up wherever we find a nice spot,” that’s what we’ve always done.

“That’s no way to live! You gotta settle down sometimes! How are you supposed to relax, or party with no worries?” Bow says.

“What’s a party?” I ask him, confused. The hell is that?

“You don’t know what a party is? Glimmer! She doesn’t know what a party is!” he yells to Glimmer, makin his voice crack. 

“I heard her, Bow. It’s alright, not everyone calls it that. Do you call it celebrating?” Glimmer asks me.

“After we have a successful raid or gang fight we take things and drink. Some shoot off they guns and some sleep together, in the nude and all that, and some dance together, whatever that’s called,” I tell them. 

“That’s what we call a party! Though, usually no guns, or much drinking, we do like to eat sweets though. Cake for people’s birthdays,” he says smiling. I tilt my head at him.

“What’s a birthday?” He pulls on his horse for second to stop and stare. He startles Swifty who pulls back and neighs at me. 

“No birthdays! How is your life this sad?!” he cries out. Glimmer pulls him back up to match the speed of the rest of them.

“Bow, calm down! It’s okay that she doesn’t know that, she is from the Horde,” Glimmer says. She says Horde like she ate something that tastes bad. I don’t blame her.

“Adora, do you know when your birthday is?”

“You still ain’t answer what that means?” I say to him.

“Right, uh, it is the day you came into the world as a baby,” he says. I look up into the sky and think. Nope, no idea.

“No, do people usually remember when they come out?” I ask confused, if I’m a baby how the hell would I know? He starts laughin at me, and Glimmer joins in. My face gets red since I’m gettin laughed at.

“What’s so damn funny!? I asked a question!” I yell over them laughin.

“I’m sorry, Adora! That was just so funny! No, no we don’t remember ourselves but our parents can tell us. My dad’s told me that for me being born the way I was, it was a miracle,” he says and smiles, still havin tears from laughin.

“Wait, you got two dads? How does that work?” I ask him. These people are so interestin.

“Well, one of my dad’s is a scientist and the other is a historian. They found out you can put some DNA from two men and mix with a woman’s DNA and get a baby from the woman carrying it! Crazy right?” He turns to see my face and I feel like my head just exploded.

“What the hell is a scientist, or a historiaan, and this DNA? You still ain’t answer how you have two dads,” I say all at once. I’m so confused. He laughs a little and then puts a hand to his chin.

“Lemme think, well, they are both my dad and they love each other, plus they love me too of course. They were able to make me by putting their heads together and making something the world’s never seen! A scientist is someone who creates things or solves things and a historian, is someone who looks into the past! That’s an easier way to describe it,” he says, noddin.

“I guess that makes sense. So, you have two dads and they’re together like a woman and a man right?” I ask him, still not sure.

“Yes, they love each other like a man and a woman can or a woman and woman can too,” he says and smiles at me. A woman, and woman can love each other?

“So, a woman can love another woman too? Like a man would?” I ask him. He nods and smiles.

“Yep! And that is normal to have those feelings! You can love anyone!” I stare at the top of Swifty’s head and all I can think about is Catra. How much I love her and never realized that it’s okay for me to love her like how a man would. I, I can be with Catra! And that’s okay! I can’t help but start to smile at no one and just feel, on top of the world.

“Adora? What’s wrong?” Glimmer says. I look up at her and shake my head.

“Nothin’s wrong, why?” she points at my face and then I feel how wet my cheeks are and I realize, I’m cryin. I wipe them away and laugh a little.

“Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to I just felt so happy for some reason,” I laugh and feel more tears fall. All these years, Weaver made me feel gross, or like a freak for even tryin to think of bein with Catra as more than a friend. But this boy I just met that is with a gang that wanted to kill me, just told me I ain’t a freak. I’m normal. Hell he even has two dad’s! That both love him dearly and raised him good. I keep rubbing my eyes to make the tears stop but I just keep seein Catra behind them.

“Adora, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset! I know all this is a lot to take in, I should have started off slower,” Bow says reaching out to pat my shoulder but I take his hand in mine and pat it as I smile at him.

“Thank you, Bow. You did nothin wrong. You, uh, cleared somethin up for me. That I was un sure of for a long time. You opened my eyes,” I say and smile, really smile at him. He smiles back, tears in the corner of his eyes. 

“You, you’re welcome, Adora! I’m glad I could help!” he says and quickly rubs his eyes. I smile at Glimmer too, who hasn’t stopped starin at me.

“Thank you too, Glimmer. For askin bout me, I’m fine, really,” I say and nod at her.

“You had me worried there, Horde Scum. Thought you’d gone soft on us,” she says and smiles at me. We continue on after that. Bow still tellin stories, Glimmer chimin in, and me, just listenin and happy to be alive. Waiting to find Catra and tell her my feelins. 

Copper finally stops after we found lots of horse tracks for the past few miles. He sits right by a rock that looks like a fork in the road.

“Seems the scent trail stops here,” Angella says and jumps off her horse.

“But that’s impossible! Copper knows there is no one here! He never stops until he finds what he’s looking for!” Bow says and hops off his horse too. I slide off Swifty and help Glimmer off her horse by taking her hand and most of her body weight.

“Why’d he stop here, Bow?” I ask him and walk up the dog. He wags his tail and pants at me. I kneel down and rub his head. I take my canteen out and pour some water out for him then I drink some for me.

“I’m not sure! We’ve only traveled a few miles from the campsite. This can only mean one thing!” he says as he sticks a finger in the air. We all wait for his answer as he stands there.

“What would that one thing be, Bow?” Glimmer asks him. He spins on his foot and smirks.

“They thought we were trailing them and they split off! So, that means we need to split up too!” he says, giddy.

“Ain’t that bad?” I ask him. He shakes his head.

“No, it’s interesting! They must have someone on their team who thinks 10 steps ahead! The big question is, did Hordak take Catra with him or did she run away from the group? Lots of questions!” he says, happily.

“All's I care about is finding her, so which way did she go?” I ask him, seriously.

“Now, now, Adora. No need to get hostile. Bow is just thinking out loud on which way they all went. Since Copper here has your friend, Catra’s, scent he will lead you to her. And that must mean that the others went a different way. Let Copper smell the bandana once more and have him rest up a bit. We will then see if they split apart or if Catra separated,” Angella tells me and I sigh. 

“Alright, sorry Bow,” I say and flop on the ground next to the dog. He stretches out and curls next to me and falls asleep. I realize how tired I am as I lay under this hot ass sun and hot sand. There’s some shade from the rock but not much. I take my hat off and place if over my face to get the sun out my eyes. 

I hear Bow continue to ramble on to Angella who listens and some rummaging goin on between other members. I feel my eyes start to close and I drift off while smelling my sweat from hat and feeling the nice warm sun on top and warm sand under me. Not too bad a restin spot compared to last night’s.

I wake up and see a make shift roof over the rock to make more shade for me and the dog. The dog wakes up too and stretches near me. I look around to see that the other members are playin cards under a makeshift tent. I shake the sand off and walk over to em. Glimmer looks up and laughs.

“Morning, sleepy head,” she says as she plays a card out.

“How long was I out?”

“Oh, not too long. We were gonna rest up a bit then go on our way. You just beat us to the resting part,” she says.

“Ha, ha. Well, are we all rested up now so we can go?”

“After we finish this game, I’m about to beat my mom,” she says and slaps another card on the ground.

“Sorry, sweetheart. But that won’t do,” Angella says as she places a flush out on the ground and cause everyone playing to groan.

“I believe that makes me the winner, and I win all the bets placed here,” she states and collects the small pile of “bets” in the circle. It’s random items like a soda lid, or a pocket knife that’s rusted to shit. 

“Why ain’t you bet money?” I ask them.

“We never bet money when Ms. Angella plays. She says she’ll always win and she doesn’t want to steal our money,” Bow says and rubs his head.

“You win every time? Next time you play put me in and I’ll bet money I can beat you,” I say and stick my hand out. She eyeballs it then looks back up at my face. She stands up before even attempting to take my hand.

“I don’t know how I would feel to take money from a child,” she says and her mouth twitches like she wants to smile.

“I ain’t no kid! I’m just a lil young is all, but I’m grown!” I say, takin my hand back for a second.

“Tell you what. I will play you when we get to Brightmoon again and we can bet something else instead of money,” she says.

“Oh? And what might that be, your highness?”

“If I win, I want you to work on speaking properly with Bow by taking classes with me,” she says.

“And what if I win?”

“If you win, I’ll give you however much money you ask for. Since that seems to interest you,” she says, smiling. I look at the ground and squeeze my eyebrows together. I ain’t never lost a game against anyone in my gang. Even Weaver couldn’t beat me. She don’t stand a chance. I stick my hand back out again.

“Deal.” She takes my hand in hers and shakes it.

“Deal it is then. Now, let’s get gathered up so we can continue on our journey,” she says and turns to take the tent apart. 

We get everything taken down and let Copper sniff the bandana again. He gets the scent and goes towards the right.

“Right, who’s going to go after Catra and possibly the others and who’s going the other way?” Angella asks.

“Well you already know my answer,” I tell them and cross my arms. 

“Yes, Adora. Who would like to travel with Adora?” she says. Bow raises his hand quick as light, he nudges Glimmer’s shoulder to where she raises her hand with an eye roll. We have slim pickins for our group. They left some people at the camp from earlier and only brought me, Bow, Glimmer, Angella, and a couple others. 

“Excellent. I will go with the others and try to the left. Glimmah, come here for a second,” she says and uses her finger to call her over. I brush Swifties side as I wait for them to get done talkin. Bow’s basically shakin next to his horse. I look up as their talk is bout up and see Angella lean over and kiss Glimmer’s head. I stare as Glimmer pushes her off her and wipes her head off. Angella stands there, smilin sweetly at her. She gives her a hug after that too, not too long but it looks,nice. I ain’t never had no one hug me like before, side’s Catra sometimes. I look away and fix Swifties mane. That doesn’t matter now, Weaver’s always been a piece of shit at parentin. I never cared before, why should I now?

“Where will we meet up once we’re done?” Angella asks and looks at all of us? No one gives an answer right away and keeps lookin at the sky.

“The camp, the one where the other member’s are at. We all know which way it is, easy,” I tell them.

“Yes, that should work nicely. Good job, Adora,” Angella says and pats my shoulder as she goes to get on her horse. I think of her huggin Glimmer a little bit ago and shake my head. I get up on Swifty and can still feel her patton me for speakin. Like I said, don’t matter right now. What matter’s is gettin Catra away from those lunies. 

“Let’s go!” Angella shouts and bucks her horse. She runs the opposite way of me, Bow and Glimmer. I take the lead and follow Copper, not much longer before we find them. Find her, that’s all I care about right now. I gotta convince them she’s good, she’s a good person. I keep saying that as we ride on, the sun shining down on us and the wind making my hair blow out. 

We keep runnin for a bit longer when Copper stops again. He’s growling at something not far away. The sun’s still in the sky but has gotten lower. Gettin closer to sundown, animals come out more frequent. I pull on Swifty’s reigns and make him stop. Bow and Glimmer follow and stay back. I hop off and follow Copper’s line of sight. He’s growling at a rock but I know somethin’s hidin. I pull my pistol out and keep it ready. A rattler jumps out and lunges at us, fangs bared. I shoot it in the face before it can bite either of us. The shot blares in my ears, but not louder than my heartbeat. The body wriggles around as it keeps bleedin. Copper’s barkin like mad now, hopping back and forth. I pull him back and let the body keep writhin till it stops. 

I inch forward and poke it with my knife. It doesn’t move. I stab it with my knife in case and pick it up. Head’s missin thanks to my sure shot. I turn around and show it off to the two that are starin in shock. 

“Looks like we got a snack for later,” I say and wrap up the body in some cloth and stick it one of the sacks on Swifty.

“That was so cool, Adora!” Glimmer shouts.

“Thanks, wasn’t that hard. I’ve killed lots of rattlers in my day,” I say and put my pistol back. 

“How did you hit it right in it’s face!? It was like hiss and then bang! Whole head gone!” Bow shouts and imitates an explosion. I shake my head and tell Copper to go ahead. 

“Wasn’t that crazy, you guys just over doin it,” I say and chuckle. We start to follow Copper again and they keep talkin bout it. After a bit I don’t mind them sayin how cool I was. No one really does in the Horde. Or, they say I am and then say another guy can do better. Can’t ever be better than Hordak or Weaver in that damn place. 

After that crazy moment, we keep ridin till it’s damn near sundown. Copper’s runnin and then slows down to a trot and then to more of a walk. He starts to walk and then sits down. No growlin this time. I hop off and so do they and pet him real quick.

“Good boy, but uh, there’s no one here?” I say and scratch my head as I look around us. I know we in the desert, but, it’s deserted. No life in sight, hell, not even any animals. 

“What’s going on? Why’d we stop?” Glimmer says lookin at the dog. He pants and looks up at us.

“Maybe he’s tired?” I say.

“No, no. Copper only stops like that if he lost the scent or he found what he was searching for. Come on boy, what is it?” Bow says, kneelin down. The dog licks his hand and still lays. 

“What’s that mean?”

“I think, he found Catra’s scent. Come on, let’s look around more. There’s some rocks and stuff that can be used to set up shelter,” Bow says standin.

We look around, separated, and see if there is anythin sayin she or someone else was here. 

“Found anythin?!” I yell at them.

“No! Nothing!” they yell back. Dammit, this dog better not be pullin my leg. I mumble and keep lookin. I hear cracklin near by, low and almost done. I follow the sound and see a small campfire. The fire in it’s almost out. They couldn’t have left that long ago. I poke it with another stick and it falls apart. The last of the fire with it. Only one person I know sucks this bad at makin fires.

“Guys! I found somethin!” I yell and stand up to look for the other two. They don’t answer me. 

“Guys! Get your asses over here!” I say, gettin more irritated. I roll my eyes and throw the stick down. 

“Come on, now’s not the time to fuck around!” I say and come from behind the big rock the fire was by. I come around the corner and see the two of them, standin right next to each other, starin at somethin.

“What the hell you guys doin?” I say and walk closer. 

“Adora, run!” Glimmer says and I feel the cool metal of a pistol against my neck for the second time in a day. Followed by a laughter I know all too well.

“Well, I knew you’d follow your precious Catra but I had no idea you’d bring some Rebels to make up for what you pulled!” Weaver says as she grabs my shoulder and shoves me towards them.

“Weaver, what did you do with Catra?”

“Oh she’s right here, see?” she says and points to where Bow and Glimmer was lookin. They step out of the shadows and I can see clear as day, even though it’s damn near night. Catra, holdin her pistol to Bow and Glimmer and lookin cool as a cucumber. 

“Catra?” She smirks at me and tilts her hat up.

“Hey, Adora.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally find Catra after traveling for near a day! I just had to throw a Hey, Adora in there at some point because it's Catra we're talking about and it wouldn't be Catradora without a few Hey, Adora's! Next time we'll see what happens between the 4 of them and how it'll play out. Will Catra go with them or will she stay with the Horde and Weaver and fight against the Rebels? Stay tuned for the next chapter and thank you for reading!


	5. The Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After they finally find Catra it appears that she's working with Weaver against the Rebels. Will she choose to go with Adora and the rebels or stay with the Horde and help Hordak and Weaver continue to cause terror across the West?

“Catra, what are you doin?!” I yell at her and try to walk forward but Weaver’s grip is strong as steel and cold as ice.

“What we’ve been waitin to do, Adora. Get on Hordak and Weaver’s good side to get higher up in the gang. Isn’t that we’ve always wanted?” she says still pointin her pistol at Bow and Glimmer. 

“No, no I want to, to be with you and just be with you! No more gangs! I’m sick of it! Catra, our gang is bad, and Hordak is, well Hordak is a damn bastard!” I say which makes Weaver smack my head. I hiss and still stare at her, pleadin. She seems sad for a second, then, she starts laughin. She keeps laughin till she shakes her head and wipes her eyes.

“Did you really just figure that out? Where’ve you been this whole time, Adora? You think good people go on raids? And rape people? And steal from them? Of course not! We’ve been bad this whole time! But, when Weaver and Hordak are too old to lead, we’ll be the gang’s leader! Just like we always wanted, right?” she says. She looks at Weaver who walks closer to her but trades places and points her gun at Bow and Glimmer while Catra walks to me. She puts her hands on my shoulders and smiles. 

“Come on Adora, stay with me. You’ve known these people for what a day? After they kidnapped you? I know you, Adora. I’ve always been with you. Come on, help me get these guys tied up and we can take em to Hordak,” she says and smiles so sweet at me despite her words. I look down at her hands on my shoulders and look at Bow and Glimmer, cowering before Weaver. I close my eyes and think of all the times we’ve shared. All me and Catra’s memories come floodin back like she says, she’s always been there for me. 

But, the memories from today come flashin back. Bow, Glimmer, hell, even Angella have taught me what bein good means and that I can love who I love and not feel bad for it. I open my eyes and sigh, I am so goin to regret this later. I take her hands off my shoulder and shake my head.

“No, Catra. This ain’t right, these people are good and did nothin wrong. I want to help them help others, come with us,” I say and keep her hands in mine. She stares at them for a long while, then she drops mine and laughs to herself.

“You’re such an idiot. I really didn’t want to have to do this the hard way, but it looks like I don’t have a choice,” she says and then she punches me in the gut to get me on the ground. I let out the air I was holdin on to and look up at her in disbelief. 

“Catra,” I gasp out and she kneels down next to me.

“Why would you choose them over me? All you had to do was give them up and come back with me, why?” she says and goes to punch me again, she gets me in the stomach again and I grab it as I gasp for air. I feel like I’m gonna puke if she does it again. 

“Catra, please,” I say and touch her knee. She glares at my hand angrily, takes it and slaps it away. She looks like she’s about to punch me again when we hear gun shots not far from us. 

“Glimmah! Bow! Adora! Where are you!?” I hear Angella shout where the gun shots rang out. Catra glares in her direction then grabs me by the collar. I try to swat her hand away but she’s got a grip damn near like Weaver’s was moments ago. I manage to grab her hand and peel it off my shirt. She growls and jumps on top of me to wrestle me. I roll under her while she’s tryin to hold me down. I hear someone yell then Catra screams in pain and falls off me. I look and see Bow hit her with a padded arrow. She rolls on the ground near me and Glimmer comes closer to help me up.

“Come on, we gotta go!” she says as Weaver is shootin back at the group comin to save us. I look at Catra as she goes to get up again. 

“Adora!” she yells at me, askin me to stop. I look with my best pleadin eyes I can and she still ain’t hearin me. She gets back up to lunge at me when Bow steps between her and me. 

“Go, I’ll hold them back and meet up with you. Maybe I can convince her,” Bow says to me, lookin sad. I know he’s just sayin that, Catra ain’t comin with us. And we all realize it. I nod and walk with Glimmer towards Angella. 

“Adora! Don’t you dare go with them!” Weaver screams at me. I keep hobblin with Glimmer and ignore her. She keeps screamin at me but I keep lookin forward. I hear Catra’s screams mixed with Weaver’s threats. It takes all of me to not turn around and run to help them, help her. I take one more look as the Rebels close in and shoot back at Weaver and Catra. 

I look right in Catra’s eyes and see the tears flow down her face as they fall down mine. She’s not gonna come with us. She’s not gonna change bein with the Horde, cause that’s all she knows. She never loved me like I loved her. I was just some sucker she was stringin along. I shoulda known. I force myself to turn away and get on Swifty. 

We ride back to the camp, where we said we’d meet and practically fall off our horses from all that. I wipe the tears that kept fallin down my face off and hope nobody saw em.

“What happened? I thought you said Catra was a good person, like you!?” Glimmer shouts at me, soon as she gets her feet on the ground.

“I thought she was, okay!? God dammit, she was supposed to come with us, come with me! But she, she didn’t listen, she looked like she hated me,” I say as I remember the last look I could see. The tears mixed with hatred lingers in my head. I put my head in my hands and shake back and forth. This can’t be happenin.

“What happened back there?” I hear Angella say as she drops off her horse near us. I don’t take my head out of my hands till I hear her softly sayin my name.

“Adora, what happened?” she says, softly and havin her hands on my shoulders. I take a raggedy breath in and then fall forward on her. I don’t mean to, she was just there and my head hurts somethin awful. I realize it and try to pull back but she pulls me back in for a hug. I freeze and then tears start fallin again. 

“It’s okay, Adora. It’s alright, let it out,” she says as she pats my head. I cry into her shoulder harder than I have before. Only other time I cried on someone was Catra. First time Weaver hit me. It ain’t last long, said she’d make me cry more if ain’t knock it off. I continue cryin at the fact that Catra probably hates me now, and she’d rather be with that damn gang, that damn Hordak. I grit my teeth as my sadness mixes with anger. She chose that spineless bastard over me, and she chose that damn Weaver, the woman that “raised” us over me. I start cryin less and feel more anger bubblin in my chest. I pull back from Angella and wipe my tears with my sleeve.

“Are you alright?” she asks me. I nod and don’t say nothin. 

“Are you ready to talk about what happened?” I nod and we sit on some logs near by. 

“Well, we found their camp and it was an ambush. Weaver was waitin for us and Catra was waitin with her. I couldn’t believe it and she, she kept hittin me to get me to come back with em and I just couldn’t give up Glimmer and Bow like that so I kept tellin her no. That’s when you guys came. Wait, how did you know where we was? I thought you guys was goin the other way?” I say, rememberin that they was supposed to go to the left. 

“Well, I had a feeling that wasn’t the right thing to do. It didn’t sit right that Catra would be able to leave the Horde just like that. So, I decided to head the way your group did and I heard the yelling, saw the abandoned horses and put it together,” she says, smilin sweet at me. I look down at the ground. 

“You knew we was gonna fail to get her to come with us, huh? Even you could see she wasn’t gonna listen,” I say and sigh. Everyone else saw but me.

“No, Adora. I had every faith in you and her. I just, motherly instincts for Glimmer, not to mention you and Bow as well. You all are children in my eyes,” she says. 

“But I already told you, I ain’t a kid,” I tell her. She laughs and wipes some dirt off my face.

“Alright, Adora. You aren’t a kid. Don’t be so upset when I give you things to do since you aren’t a kid,” she says and winks.

“Wait, what do ya mean? I thought you was gonna lock me up cause I was lyin bout Catra?” 

“You didn’t lie about anything. You tried your best to get her to come with you but she denied you. Even fought with you. And, you’re our new intel on the Horde to help capture them. You know all of their tactics, the other group members and where they like to go. And, after you sacrificed yourself for my daughter and Bow today, how could I just lock you up? You are a good person, Adora. You just need the right person to show you the ways of the world,” she says and smiles at me. I smile back and look at Glimmer, who’s talkin to Bow now, not too far from here. 

“Thank you, Angella. I’ll do my best to help y’all out,” I say.

“Plus, you owe me a game of black jack back at Brightmoon. I’m going to get you to learn how to speak proper in my gang,” she says and goes to check on the other members. I sigh and wipe the dried tears off my face. I go over to Bow and Glimmer to talk.

“Adora! I’m so glad you ain’t hurt!” Bow says and hugs me. I freeze cause he ain’t hugged me before. Too many hugs in one damn day. 

“Uh, I could say the same to you, Bow. You had me worried back there. You just jumped tween me and Catra like that. Thought you lost your mind!” I say and pat his back till he lets go.

“She sure was scary! I can’t believe how angry she was that you didn’t wanna be with the Horde anymore,” he says and shakes his head.

“Yeah, me neither. She looked like she hates me now,” I say and rub my head. 

“She’s your closest friend, right?” I nod my head.

“Then she can’t hate you that bad! She just needs to see that you made the right decision and she’ll come with you and join us! I just know she will!” he says. I smile at him and nod. 

“Thanks, Bow. I hope you’re right. By the way, she ain’t claw you, did she? She used to do that to the people she fought,” I say and look at his arms.

“Oh she didn’t get the chance. After you ran away she lunged at me again but I dodged and shot her with another padded arrow and ran before she could get up,” he says, proudly.

“Well, I’m glad she ain’t get you then. Thanks for not usin real arrows on her. And thank you, Glimmer. For helpin me outta there,” I say, lookin behind him to talk to her.

“No problem, thanks for not turning us over. Thought when Catra started talking you’d give in and join them again for a second there. But, thank you for not,” she says, given me a small smile. I smile back.

“Nah, I just met you guys but, I couldn’t do that to some good folk.” Bow smiles wide at me, and Glimmer’s small one gets bigger.

“I knew we’d make a great team! Best friend squad!” he shouts and grabs us both. 

“The hell does that mean?” I say as he keeps squeezin us. 

“Well, we’re best friends now and we’re a squad of people! Just came up with it myself,” he says, smirkin. I raise a brow at him and look at Glimmer to see her rollin her eyes. Glad I ain’t the only one. I pat his chest and slip under his arm.

“Alright, Bow. If that’s what you say,” I tell him and walk away to get a swig of water. 

The sun is practically gone at this point, meanin we can’t travel to Brightmoon till tomorrow mornin. 

Everyone get’s ready for sleep but someone needs to be the lookout.

“I’ll do it, I had that nap earlier. Should be good to go,” I tell em. They all thank me and get under their sleepin bags or covers. 

“You sure you’ll be okay to look out?” Bow says to me as Glimmer gets comfortable near him. I nod at him.

“Yep, it’ll give me some time to think, too. Get some rest, Bow. Angella says Juliet will be the next one to keep a look out. After that, not too sure. But you get some rest for now, you earned it,” I say and pat his back. He yawns and stretches.

“Alright, well, thanks, Adora. I’m glad we met you and captured you,” he says and chuckles at that bit. I laugh a little too.

“Heh, yeah. Now go on, get that rest boy,” I tell him, he nods and gets under his bag near Glimmer, who is already sleep.

I look off into the horizon and sigh. Dammit, what a day. This mornin I woke up and was beat the shit out of, sposed to kill an innocent gal, kidnapped, beat up by my best friend, and now bein the lookout for the gang that nabbed me in the first place. I shake my head and smile at the craziness of it all. I look back up and stare at the mountains near by. I wonder what Catra’s doin now? Hell, probably sleep. She was never one to stay up late. She loves to sleep. Always takin them damn naps in the day, leavin me be with my thoughts. 

What Bow said came back in my head. Maybe she don’t hate me, but why wouldn’t she just come with me? I would have left for her in a heartbeat. But, since it’s the other way round, she don’t feel the same way bout me as I do her. I knew I was stupid to think that I could just tell her how I feel, not knowin if she felt the same. Stupid Adora, wishful thinkin. 

I keep havin these type of the thoughts for the next few hours when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look behind me and see Juliet thumbin me to switch. I get up, stretch and then point at the log.

“All yours.” I walk to Swifty and get my old, worn out bag from inside a pouch and lay it on the ground. I dust it off shimmy under it. I look at the sky for a few more minutes then fall asleep before I knew it hit me.

I wake up to the sun beamin down on me. I put my arm over my eyes and rub the eyedust out. I look around and blink the sleep away. Everyone else is just now gettin up too. I stand and stretch then roll my bag up and put it on Swifty.

“Mornin, Swifty,” I say and get out some food for him to munch on. I take a few swigs of water and give him some. Someone starts a fire and starts boilin some coffee. 

“Alright, who wants some?” a Rebel member yells. I walk over and get a cup, sittin by the fire while I sip on it. Mm, haven’t had a good cup of joe in a while. Most the time, Hordak, Weaver and the other top gang members get the good stuff. We get the shit that’s left over that ain’t nobody want.

“Where’d this come from?” I ask him.

“Brightmoon, we get supplies in every month and coffee beans come with em,” he says as he sips his own cup. They get them every month?

“So, this ain’t nothin new for y’all?” 

“Nah, this a normal thing. This ain’t normal for y’all?”

“Nah, we get the scraps from the towns while the leader and them get the good shit,” I say, takin another swig of this good as hell cup. 

“Well, get used to this way then, girlie. We get the good shit most days. Sides when we get stuck traveling for things for days. Even then we bring enough to last,” he says. 

“Wow. I didn’t know everyone else had it so good,” I say, shakin my head in disbelief.

“Not everyone has it good. Some towns like Dryl don’t got it as good. They don’t even got their own Mayor, Sheriff or anyone to help run it. And the girlie that was supposed to run it is off doin her own thing she calls “research”, no idea what the hell that means,” he says and scoffs.

“Damn, I thought every town was like Brightmoon with the nice set up,” I say to him. 

“Hell, I did too. Till we would go on supply runs to these other towns. Most of em got hit by your gang, the Horde, so we keep given em shit but it always runs out or gets stolen. Too many people need shit, not enough shit to give. We need more help round here and we need to capture that gang of yours,” he says like I run them.

“Hey, it ain’t my gang. I left them to help y’all. Don’t lump me with em.”

“You was just with em a day ago. I’ll say it ain’t your gang anymore when you prove it.” I go to respond when I hear Bow yawn behind me and walkin up to us.

“Mornin, Adora. Did you sleep well?” he asks me as he takes a cup from this guy and takes a seat next to me. I look away from the guy, after glarin at him. 

“Yeah, I slept fine. Kept wakin up thinkin Weaver or Hordak found us,” I say but shrug.

“We won’t let them find us that easy, Adora. And if they do find us, we won’t let them hurt you,” he says, smiling. I smile back and see Glimmer ain’t next to him like she always is.

“Thanks, say, where’s Glimmer?”

“Oh she ain’t, sorry, isn’t a morning person. We have to wake her up before she gets up,” he says and sips his coffee. I set my empty cup down and go to see.

“I’ll wake her up then, enjoy your coffee.”

“Careful, Adora, she’s a bear.”

I walk over to her bag and see her arms are out and sprawled by her head. Her hair’s a mess and she got drool on her face. I laugh under my breath and kneel down next to her. I shake her shoulder and she groans.

“Come on Glimmer, wakey wakey,” I say and shake her again. She groans more and puts the blanket over her face. I roll my eyes and rip it away. She groans louder and turns to open her eyes and glare at me. 

“Good mornin, sleepy head,” I say smilin at her. She grumbles and rubs her eyes. She slowly sits up and stretches. 

“Why’d you wake me up? I was having a good dream,” she says, voice bein gravely. I laugh lightly at her. She’s cute when she wakes up and looks all messed up like this. The perfect little daughter of a lawyer that’s always lookin done up looks like this when she wakes up? Did not expect that. 

“What was it about? Bow?” I say and raise a brow. Her face gets red all over and she looks more awake now.

“No! Hush! He’s not far from us!” she says and smacks my shoulder. I laugh and stand up. 

“Alright, alright I’ll stop! Now come on, time to get up and face the day!” I say and walk back to the fire. She groans more and rummages around her bag. 

“So, where we off to today?”

“Brightmoon! We need to regroup and figure out how we’re gonna tackle the Horde situation! And, I think Angella said that we were also gonna try to get the person who runs the gang over in Plumeria to help our gang to beat the Horde. We’ve been given em supplies here and there but they still ain’t made a decision to join us or not. Angella was hopin we’d be able to help,” he says. 

“Why would we be able to convince someone who ain’t want to join at all?”

“Well, she says you might be able to, Adora.”

“Me? The hell can I do?” I ask him. He turns to look up at me and smiles.

“Well, since you just freshly left the Horde you can tell them about how awful they are and how we need their help to capture them! Plus, you could help do things for them to convince them. Like help around their town, since you’re so strong and helpful!” I feel my face get all hot on account of him sayin somethin like that. No one really praises me for bein strong for a girl. And if they do it’s for the fact that I can beat the shit out of someone if I need to. 

“Well, thanks, I guess. Okay, we can do that. Where to first?”

“Brightmoon first, then Plumeria!” 

“Sounds like a good plan to me. Brightmoon here we come!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn Catra, can't just go with Adora for the sake of her happiness can you? I know we wanted Catra to come with this time but I just couldn't bring myself to have her join so early on. We gotta build up the suspense and have her make some questionable decisions and make Adora have gay panic whenever they fight, right? Next time, we get to travel to Bow and Glimmer's home, Brightmoon! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
